Setting the stage… PTFC vs LAG

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The Portland Timbers Football Club takes on the LA Galaxy Football Club tomorrow in front of a nationally televised audience dead smack in the middle of the NFL…  

I wonder how those ratings will play out tomorrow… I’m hopeful the TV share will be competitive!  

For me, and perhaps many others, there simply is no comparison between “football (soccer)” and the droll, dull, timeout driven, commercial driven, (referee’d by 8 guys) game that has gone way past its sell by date…

In all this build-up the game time temperature and weather conditions should be perfect for a football match; a bit windy, rainy and slightly chilly where the need for a Football scarf is more about actually needing one to keep the neck warm.  Perhaps some supporters will bring two – one to actually use and one to help show the emotional energy they have.

As to the players – both coaches know their squads and if you follow either or both teams it is likely you have a good idea who will be starting…  at this stage both Coaches know what they want and how to go about maximizing that opportunity based upon who plays… for those that second guess the starting lineup for either team… get a life.

Bottom line here is that Porter and Arena have been shaping and molding their players and team approach for some time; Arena obviously quite a bit longer than Porter and if you recall the last time these two went head-to-head that extra bit of emotion coming from Caleb (when Baptiste got that winning goal) had more to do with Caleb feeling satisfied about ‘his approach’ and how his team has taken shape then about any personal battle with Arena.

Ego’s come into this game big-time from the sideline and they should.  While most might liken this game to a chess match between coaches it really isn’t.

It is so much more than that…

There are no major limitations on how and where players can rotate and move about the pitch; yes some guys are more limited than others but in chess Bishops can only move diagonally, Knights in their “L” shape fashion, pawns ever plodding forward while Rooks are front to back or side to side.

The only piece on a chess board that comes close to matching the flexibility of a player on the pitch is a Queen’ moving anywhere, anytime to help bolster an attack or defense.

So in reality there are 20 Queens on the pitch and two Kings (goalies) and the referee; who has rules to go by can also have flexibility in how they interpret those rules given playing conditions and locations/tenor of fouls given.

So a chess match; bollocks… this is pure competition of not only players but philosophies of how those players interact based upon guidance, direction and policy of their head coach!

If you play chess perhaps it might be interesting to play a game where every piece but one is a Queen…  the match-up of the previous century (Fischer versus Spasky) takes on a whole new meaning if those guys go toe-to-toe with 15 Queens and one King.

I’m up for a game of chess like that… as for being the head coach on the sideline; no way – for those two guys I sure hope the passion for the game outweighs the stress!

Next up my match analysis…